Wiley takes shot at Eli on ESPN

by | Aug 6, 2009 | Business of Football, NFL Media

RACINE, Wis. – We’re off on our journey to Canton for the Hall of Fame induction Saturday.

Before we left I had seen the news of Eli Manning signing a $97 million contract with New York that makes him an even more highly-paid quarterback than brother Peyton.

But I didn’t catch until we got off the road in Racine, Wis. that former Buffalo Bill, San Diego Charger, Jacksonville Jaguar, Dallas Cowboy defensive end Marcellus Wiley ripped him during a commentary on ESPN.

He faced the cameras and asked, as though talking directly to Eli, if the quarterback truly thought he was worth all that money?

“I don’t think so,” Wiley then replied. He then spent a few minutes discussing how Manning didn’t play well in the playoffs last year, helping cost the Giants in their playoff loss.

Wiley did leave out that Manning was playing with a less than stellar group of wide receivers, minus Plaxico Burress, in that game and he did later acknowledge that Manning had a Super Bowl ring from the year before.

I share Wiley’s concerns that Manning’s contract might be outpacing his true value to the team, though I don’t begrudge him the money. Heck, the Giants offered it – there’s no reason he has to say “Thanks, but I think that’s too much.”

I thought Wiley’s comments might have been a tad more harsh than they needed to be. But I’ll say this – I like that Wiley is willing to give a real opinion.

There are always concerns when retired athletes move into broadcasting careers that they’re going to give their athletic brethren the benefit of the doubt and be afraid to criticize.

Prior to making his Eli Manning comments, Wiley has mixed it up with some of the greats, including former Vikings quarterback Fran Tarkenton and Kansas City Star scribe Jason Whitlock.

Wiley could run the risk of alienating some current and former players with his outspoken-ness. But I hope he’s able to maintain his willingness to give a real opinion. In an era of political correctness and clone-like commentators, both on ESPN and in general, I think for the most part it’s a much needed breath of fresh air.

Fantasy expert Maggio offers 2009 season insight

by | Jul 29, 2009 | Fantasy Football

Anthony Maggio spent two years as an associate editor at Fanball, one of the earlier fantasy sports sites on the Internet. He has moved on from there but he’s still a freelance writer, covering both real and fantasy sports, the latter for FFChamps.com. You can read the rest of his writing at the blog puntingbaxter.wordpress.com, where he also provides additional fantasy sports analysis – including some kick ass team defense rankings.

There’s a strong possibility – talks are underway – that Maggio may team up with the proprietors of Zoneblitz to share some fantasy football thoughts via various technological means during the upcoming season. For now he has agreed to answer some questions. His answers are below.

Zoneblitz: With Tomlinson’s tough season last year, how do you rank the top of the draft? Is it Adrian Peterson without question or are there others you could consider with the top pick?

Maggio:  I think that Peterson is the only back that belongs in the discussion for the top pick regardless of scoring system. That said, a strong PPR league could have guys like Matt Forte and Maurice Jones-Drew in the conversation. A touchdown-heavy league gets Michael Turner in the mix. Keeper and dynasty league, depending again on scoring system, could thrust Larry Fitzgerald in the conversation as well. As for Tomlinson, the drop in carries, touchdowns and yards per game each of the last two seasons is worrisome and he’s definitely not in the conversation for a top three pick, but I think he’s got one more season as a No. 1 fantasy back left in him.

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Late Eagles coach Johnson worthy of Hall?

by | Jul 28, 2009 | Hall of Fame, NFL News

There are 21 coaches in the NFL Hall of Fame, all of whom were head coaches at some point in their careers.

There aren’t any who were known for their time as an assistant. But one could make a pretty strong argument that Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson should be the first.

Johnson, who took a leave of absence from the team in May to fight a cancerous tumor on his spine, died, the team announced Tuesday. The 68-year-old coach designed an attacking defense that helped lead the Eagles to five NFC Championship games and a Super Bowl. They were generally among the league’s top defenses and he was considered among the top defensive minds in the league’s history.

According to ESPN, his 10-year tenure produced 26 Pro Bowl players and 390 sacks, good for second in the league during that time period. He was a master architect of blitzes and was revolutionary in his ability to keep offenses off balance. He never became a head coach in the NFL, but his proteges, John Harbaugh and Steve Spagnuolo, have head jobs right now.

The accolades for Johnson are pouring in from around the league at NFL.com and other locations.

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Zoneblitz going out on the road

by | Jul 22, 2009 | Hall of Fame, NFL Random Thoughts

We’ve hinted at it a couple times in previous posts, but we’re now making it official. Zoneblitz.com will be heading to Canton, Ohio for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony in early August.

We’re making a week-long road trip out of the trip. Check brushbackpitch.com for a more detailed accounting of where we’ll be headed, as much of the trip will be dedicated to baseball-related activities as well.

But on the football front, we’re planning on arriving in Cleveland on the morning of Friday, August 7 with hopes and plans of touring Cleveland Browns Stadium. We wandered around the outside of the stadium while visiting the city of Cleveland during a previous road-trip. From the outside it’s an impressive looking venue, but we weren’t there during a time when tours were available. So we’re excited about that opportunity.

On Saturday, we’re planning on getting to the Hall of Fame early – it’ll be my third time there and my brother’s second time.

We’ll be arriving to see the opening of the new, $2.4 million Lamar Hunt Super Bowl Gallery. After the ceremony it’s off to Pittsburgh for the rest of the trip, the focus of which will switch largely from football to baseball.

During this week-long trip, we’ll be doing some brainstorming on possible additions and/or changes to Zoneblitz.com. We’re also building in at least short chunks of time throughout the trip to fit in some other sites and sounds of the U.S. If anyone has thoughts and suggestions on either what we should look for during the trip or on what we could do to improve the blog, please feel free to leave us a comment.

Who knows? If this goes well, maybe we’ll make this an annual thing.

Thanks for reading.

Vick may be back – if someone will take him

by | Jul 22, 2009 | NFL News, NFL Random Thoughts

ESPN.com is reporting that Michael Vick, fresh off being released from house arrest, will meet with Commissioner Roger Goodell soon and that its likely he’ll receive some sort of “conditional reinstatement” that will allow him to attend training camp while the commish reserves the right to impose future penalties.

That’s quite a change from speculation over the last few months where most “experts” in the media seemed to think Vick would be subjected to some league-imposed suspension beyond his incarceration for issues surrounding his dog fighting.

Should he receive this conditional reinstatement, any further penalty would likely be imposed by Sept. 1, according to the ESPN story, which was attributed to “sources” and included several on-the-record no comments from Vick’s agent and league officials.

So, if Vick is going to get the okay to play in 2009 the question shifts to which team will give him a shot? He’s never been a good passer but he is a game-changing athlete with running skills. Or he was, anyway. What he’s got left now is complete speculation at this point. Assuming he’s retained most of the athletic abilities, where does he become a good fit?

The minimum salary for someone of his playing tenure appears to be $620,000, so salary cap issues are mitigated to some extent as long as Vick is willing to take that kind of cash. And it’s not like he’s got a lot of leverage.

So, team-by-team, here’s the Zoneblitz.com take:
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